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Azkaban escapes

Event information

Location

Date(s)

Participant(s)

Description

Despite generally being considered inescapable, Azkaban prison has seen at least five occasions in which prisoners have escaped. Two of these mass-breakouts were done so with the help of Dementors. However, only one person has ever escaped without any outside help.

Contents

Breakouts

From when Azkaban was first used, by the insistence of Minister for MagicDamocles Rowle, as a wizarding prison, no breakouts have occurred for nearly 300 years due to the Dementors depriving their prisoners of their magical capabilities and sanity.

However, Barty’s mother, already dying at the time, persuaded her husband to use Polyjuice Potion to switch her for their son, in case any of the prisoners were watching through their cells. The Dementors, being blind, could not tell the difference. They only recognised a healthy person and a dying person (Barty Snr and his wife) entering the fortress, and a healthy person and a dying person (Barty Snr and his son) leaving. Mrs Crouch, disguised as Barty, died a few days later and was buried outside the fortress still bearing her son's appearance.[1]

This was the first known escape in the history of Azkaban, though it was not known to the public until thirteen years later. Once his escape was exposed and he was recaptured, he suffered the Dementor's Kiss which Cornelius Fudge deemed a worthy punishment.

1993 breakout

In 1993, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban after seeing Scabbers in a Daily Prophet article, of the paper Cornelius Fudge gave him, in July 1993, recognising him as his traitorous former friend Peter Pettigrew. By 1 August, Black took advantage of his extreme weight loss to slip through his cell door in his Animagus dog form (which was unregistered, thus the Ministry did not take preparations against) while the Dementors were bringing in his food and swam across the North Sea to find Pettigrew.[2] Black was able to maintain his sanity due to his knowledge of his innocence, a non-happy thought that the Dementors could not take. It was only this that allowed him to maintain his powers to transform, and what made the escape possible.

This escape was the only known unaided escape, and officially the first one in Azkaban history (until Barty Crouch Jr's escape was revealed). Black was facing the Dementor's Kiss as punishment should he ever be recaptured, though he ultimately eluded the Ministry, and his name was cleared shortly after his death at the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange in the Department of Mysteries, in the year of 1996.

1996 mass breakout

"We have confirmed that ten high-security prisoners, in the early hours of yesterday evening, did escape. And of course, the Muggle Prime Minister has been alerted to the danger. We strongly suspect that the breakout was engineered by a man with personal experience in escaping from Azkaban; notorious mass murderer Sirius Black, cousin of the escapee Bellatrix Lestrange."

—Cornelius Fudge interview to the Daily Prophet about the Azkaban mass breakout[src]

These ten were considered to be some of the most dangerous and highly guarded convicts due to their crimes being legendary. The escapees were high security prisoners being held on the top most floors of the prison and were sentenced to life within the walls of the fortress. Most of the escapees, as well as a few other Death Eaters, would be returned to prison after the Battle of the Department of Mysteries.[3] With the expection of Bellatrix Lestrange who eluded capture, with the contiued aid of Lord Voldemort.

1997 mass breakout

Some time before 27 July, 1997, there was another mass breakout of Death Eaters from Azkaban, including all the escapees from the 1996 breakout who were re-imprisoned after the Ministry break-in, as well as others who had been imprisoned since. It was not reported to the public by the Ministry of Magic, due to their misguided attempt to keep the community under a false pretence of peace. Many of the escapees participated in the meeting at Malfoy Manor that summer, in the Battle of the Seven Potters, the Fall of the Ministry of Magic, and eventually the Battle of Hogwarts.[4]

Known escapees

2020 breakout

Rodolphus Lestrange

Sometime around 2020, Rodolphus Lestrange, convicted Death Eater who has escaped twice from the mass breakouts, has made his third escape from Azkaban. He was sentenced to life in prison for his crimes of using the Cruciatus Curse on Alice and Frank Longbottom, so he was not eligible for release. How he achieved the escape is not revealed (though by the time the prison has already been purged of Dementors, thus his powers have not been drained by their depressive presences), but he reached Delphini to inform her of her heritage and destiny.[5]

Behind the scenes

Prior to the repeated mass breakouts, the apparent punishment for escaping Azkaban (a feat that all would consider impossible to begin with) is the Dementor's Kiss, as it was noted that Sirius was to suffer it should he be recaptured. Barty Crouch Jr indeed suffered such a fate, though it was mostly a result of Cornelius Fudge's lack of control over the Dementor he took as security escort.

Albus Dumbledore claimed, when Fudge attempted to arrest him, that he could easily break out of Azkaban if he desired, though he considered it a waste of time; that he would much rather resist arrest than being sent there only to escape.

To date, Sirius Black is the only individual known to escape Azkaban without any outside help.

Cho Chang noted that it was odd that dozens of Dementor's were present that after Sirius escaped, and none were present after the 1996 mass break out. Harry took this as a sign that the dementors were likely outside of ministry control, as they weren't looking for the escapees.